The present state of the art includes a head-mounted display (“HMD”) device that is mounted on the user's head and includes one or more display devices for presenting stereoscopic images to a user's left eye and a user's right eye so that the user perceives images in three dimensions. The images in the HMD can be related to a virtual or real world scene and the images are related to the user's head's orientation so that the user feels immersed in a scene presented by the display. The display devices in the HMD device may be liquid crystal displays and a light source that guides the generated image light to the eyes through a projection optical system and a light guide plate for proper vision at small distance.
In the HMD of the present state of the art, the resolution of the images presented to the eye is limited by the capacity of the displays. The higher resolution of a display presents an improved image in terms of clarity and definition. The angle of view of systems of the present state of the art is determined by the size of the displays in front of the eyes. If the display in front of the eyes is increased, then the angle of view is also increased. Systems of the present state of the art do not allow the user to move their eyes left and right outside the viewing cone, which is determined by the angle of view of the displays. Instead, the user changes his or her perspective in the virtual or real world by rotating his head while keeping his eyes generally straight ahead focused on the displays. The need to move one's head for moderate changes in perspective may place an unnecessary burden on the user's neck and shoulder muscles. In addition to this ergonomic problem, a user's natural tendency is to change their view by slightly adjusting the direction of his eyes. Therefore, the method of changing the direction of view by changing the angle of the entire head as is required with current headsets is not natural and can be strenuous on the user.
It would be desirable to provide a virtual reality headset that allows a user to explore a corresponding virtual world by allowing minor eye movement by the user to adjust the corresponding view in the virtual world.